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April 30, 2006

Democrats across Ohio took to the streets yesterday to increase Democratic activism and Get Out The Vote for Tuesday's primary election.

Over 75 canvasses were scheduled across the state and turnout was terrific! Over 100 individuals gathered in Columbus at ODP HQ to hear from Ted Strickland before heading out and knocking on doors and dropping lit for our endorsed candidates.

My day began prepping the Columbus canvass before heading out to Washington Court House to deliver lit to our intrepid canvasses (pictured above). I then headed to London to meet with State Rep. candidate Connie Crockett and other canvassers. Next, I met with canvassers in Lewis Center - the Bob Shamanksy campaign was on hand to kick things off. I finished things off in Mt. Vernon, where the county party canvassed AND staffed a phone bank, making GOTV calls for our endorsed candidates.

After all was said and done, tens of thousands of doors were knocked on and many new volunteers were recruited. THANK YOU to all the volunteers who pounded miles of pavement for the Democratic Party yesterday - your efforts across Ohio were outstanding.

April 28, 2006

For the past six months a prankster referred to in the press as "the anonymous chocolatier" has entertained the Statehouse crowd with trinkets related to the GOP Statehouse scandals.

We've seen gold-foil wrapped chocolate coins that poked fun at Tom Noe, a fake golf scorecard that took Bob Taft to task, a phony laundry ticket that accused Jim Petro of 'laundering' millions of dollars in contributions, and now, a GOP crossword puzzle that pokes fun at the corruption of all GOP members.

The ODP (through anonymous third party sources that are not affiliated with the Party) have acquired the prankster's crossword puzzle and now present it to you, our readers, as part of a contest.

The first 5 participants that email ALL the correct answers to the crossword puzzle to john@ohiodems.org will win your very own "Petro Position Changer" fan, a hand-held paper fan that highlights Jim Petro's many changing positions, from guns to taxes to abortion.

April 27, 2006

The Buckeye Firearms Association announced recently they have decided to endorse Congressman Ted Strickland and State Sen. Marc Dann in their respective primaries.

The Association wrote, "Mr. Strickland grew up hunting in Appalachian Ohio. As a child he learned that guns are tools to put food on the table. As an adult he understands that concealed carry to protect your family is equally important."

"Sterilization is the most important thing we can do to make our society better." - Geauga County Commissioner Craig Albert (R)

Wow. A truly sickening article in today's Cleveland Plain Dealer profiles Craig Albert, a GOP County Commissioner who is weighing a run for Governor as an Independent. Albert, who was quoted as saying "parents should be castrated," thinks his wacko plan involving forced sterilization would decrease the amount of Americans on welfare.

Both critics and supporters of Albert wonder why a public official in a rural county where the welfare population is relatively small is so fixated on pummeling the poor.

"It's extremely insensitive and narrow-minded and it reflects a lack of understanding of how to help people in difficult situations," said Russell Township resident Joyce Studen...

"This is America. We don't coerce people into surgical modification of their bodies. It's a violation of civil rights to coerce people not to have children."

Studen's husband, Greg Studen, chairman of the Geauga County Democratic Party, questioned why Albert doesn't rail against corporate welfare or the billions spent on the war in Iraq.

"The welfare thing is a drop in the bucket," he said, adding that Americans face much bigger issues like jobs, affordable health care and energy costs.

"You've got all these pressing issues, and this guy's going on about welfare mothers," he said.

What does Albert's mother think of him? "Hell no, she won't vote for me," said Albert.

April 26, 2006

Ohio House candidate Dan Dodd will begin his “One Million Steps in the Right Direction” door-knocking program this weekend in Harrison Twp., Licking County.

Dodd and his wife, Stephanie, will be wearing pedometers to record the number of steps they take while knocking on doors and will take over a million steps while door-knocking by the end of November. Media and interested observers will be able to follow along by reading updates on their progress on Dodd’s website, www.doddforohio.com.

It was a tough two months for Ohio Democrats after the 2004 election. Besides President Bush's razor-thin win, Republicans had pushed through a statewide ban on gay marriage. Democrats were flat on their back when C.J. Prentiss, the minority leader in the state Senate, called for a January summit of party power brokers and union bosses at the statehouse in Columbus - where they came up with an unlikely game plan: a campaign to raise the minimum wage. "It's morally right, just, and," Prentiss pointed out, "something that brings out the base."

Building on the strong support he has gathered throughout Ohio, Ben Espy is nearing the May 2nd primary for Ohio Supreme Court Justice with a clean sweep of all major endorsements in the state.

Espy has been the choice of all major Ohio newspapers that have endorsed a primary candidate for Ohio Supreme Court. In addition, he was won endorsements from a wide-ranging list of community groups, labor unions and elected officials.

Charlie Wilson points to a new flyer being distributed in the 6th Congressional District that shows how to write in his name on both optical scan and touch-screen voting machines.

For those of you living in the 6th Congressional District (Columbiana, Jefferson, Monroe, Washington, Meigs, Lawrence, Gallia, and parts of Mahoning, Belmont, Scioto and Athens) don't forget to write-in Charlie Wilson for the May 2nd primary.